Murder at Mykonos: Anatomy of a Political Assassination

In May 1982, Darabi was convicted of assault and battery for his part in the student dormitory attack159 and the presiding judge ordered his expulsion from Germany.160 He appealed the decision and the Iranian embassy in Bonn also intervened on his behalf.161 Darabi was released. He moved to Berlin where he enrolled at the Technical Professional School of Berlin (Technische Fachhochschule Berlin) in 1983.162 Darabi joined the Islamic Student Association of Berlin (Anjoman-e Islami Daneshjooyan Berlin) shortly after his arrival in the city. He became a member of the Association’s Executive Board in July 1984.163

Darabi also held a leadership position in the Union of Islamic Student Associations of Europe (Etehadiyee Islami Daneshjooyan Oroopa), or UISA, from 1984, a position he still retained at the time of the Mykonos incident.164 The UISA, which became a firmly pro-Khomeini organization after the Islamic Revolution of 1979,165 arranged religious-political demonstrations and published books, magazines, newspapers and manifestos to advance the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.166 Its other activities included gathering news and intelligence, identifying opponents of the IRI and combating the activities of Iranian opposition figures.167

To fulfill these duties, the UISA cooperated with other Islamic groups, notably Hezbollah, as well as Iranian organizations and institutions such as embassies and cultural offices.168 In 1984 Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which was controlled by members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, took over the UISA. From that time onwards, UISA acted as an intelligence and security arm of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.169 After the creation of the IRI Ministry of Intelligence in October 1985, UISA was transformed into a branch of the IRI Ministry of Intelligence and its leaders were appointed from the Ministry of Intelligence’s ranks.170

Darabi was actively involved in gathering information on dissidents and opposition groups during this period. On April 24, 1991, Darabi was recorded on a BfV telephone intercept passing information that he had collected on a Kurdish-Iranian student - a member of the Kurdish student union and the Iranian opposition - to Mohammad Amani-Farani, the Iranian Consul-General in Berlin. Darabi reported to Amani-Farani that he had been conducting surveillance on the student.171

Darabi has also been linked to an attack that took place at the 1991 Iran Cultural Festival in Dusseldorf. Organized by the Iran Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, this festival was held from September 12 through October 31, 1991.172 Darabi was recorded on a BfV telephone tap receiving instructions from someone at the Iranian cultural center (Khaneh-e Iran) in Köln associated with the IRI Ministry of